From the Wednesday, May 3, 2023, LCS Regular Board Meeting:

Tonight, it is our honor as a school board to be able to recognize our very own Team 5460 – Strike Zone after an historic season in the First Robotics Competition.

Through the collective effort of our students, coaches, volunteers and sponsors, Strike Zone recently completed the most successful FRC season in the history of Lapeer Community Schools. The team won three blue banners and finished as the alliance captain for the runner-up alliance in the FRC World Championships in Houston.

For reference, there are more than 3,200 FRC teams and 70,000 participating students across 27 countries. When the dust settled on the 2023 season, there were two alliance captains left standing and one of them is in this room tonight. They also won numerous awards including the Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors, Team Sustainability Award, and the Autonomous Award sponsored by Ford.

We are incredibly proud of these students and everyone who supported them on their drive to the World Final.

Finally, we want to offer one last expression of gratitude to Tony Diodato and Cypress Integration Solutions. Without Tony’s passion for robotics and long-term vision, we would not have one of the most consistently successful robotics programs in the state of Michigan. While most school districts competing in FRC, even large ones, have just one FRC team, we are incredibly proud to have two — and both compete at the highest level of the competition.

So, on behalf of the LCS Board of Education and the entire district, thank you Tony!

Please enjoy this short video tribute to Strike Zone.